German
Brazil: purpose built town Brasilia
August 2024
Brasilia - a positive experience
The purpose-built city of Brasilia offers many sights with amazing space and light effects - definitely worth a visit!
The speed limit in Brasilia is 60 km/h, which is enforced by many speed cameras and speed bumps. This enormously calms Brazil's otherwise hectic traffic. It is impossible to explore this city on foot, as it was built on the condition that everyone owns a car. Many streets have no crosswalks and no pedestrian crosswalks. We were parked with around 20 other motorhomes for over 2 weeks at Lake Paranoa in a public square in Brasilia. From there, we visited the sights of Brasilia by Uber.
We found it interesting that addresses have unusual shortcuts such as SHN Q6, Bl. F..
These are broken down by sector north or south, function names (banking sector, hotel sector north/south, commercial sector north/south), north or sul, quadra, block.
Brasilia is the only city in the world that was constructed in the 20th century and yet has been included on UNESCO's World Heritage Register. Brazilian architects Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa designed the city on the drawing board in the 1950s. The center was divided into different sectors: government and administrative buildings, museums, sights, hotels and residential complexes. Viewed from the air, it has the shape of an airplane or a crucifix. A modern, timeless and photogenic city with wide streets and many parking lots, it is located over 1,000 km from the coast. Rio de Janeiro has thus been replaced by Brasilia as the capital of Brazil.
We marveled at many an impressive building on our architectural sightseeing tours:
The best way to see the center of Brasilia is from the "Torre de Televisao" television tower, which is 224 meters high. You can enjoy a wonderful view from the viewing platform at a height of 75 meters.
The sacred building, the imposing Cathedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida, with its glass roof and 16 columns, each weighing 90 tons, is very interesting. Christ's crown of thorns, blossom, praying hands or Mary's crown are offered as interpretations, their symbolism is controversial.
The government district was built in the style of modern Brazilian architecture. The main building is connected to some offices and other buildings via a tunnel.
The Câmara dos Deputados was a greater challenge for the structural engineer. The diameter of the shell of the Chamber of Deputies is 62 meters. Niemeyer imagined a lot of symbolism behind these shapes.
The Praça dos Três Poderes with unique buildings: Niemeyer envisioned a St. Mark's Square. A flagpole with a gigantic national flag and the gaunt "Candangos" (steel sculptures of Brasília's pioneers) await visitors. Oscar Niemeyer has contributed a concrete dovecote that looks like an enormous clothespin.
A large white dome with two outer ramps. This is the Museu Nacional da República, Niemeyer's last work in Brasília. It was opened in 2006 after seven years of construction.
Historical Museum The city's oldest and most unusual museum was inaugurated on April 21, 1960, the day the city was founded. A monumental crossbar that seems to hang in the air.
The "Justiça", a blindfolded sculpture, sits in front of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court.
The rather simple church from the outside with 16 meter high arches and gigantic glass windows made a huge impression on us: Santuario Don Bosco. This building was not constructed by Niemeyer. Elaborate iron and bronze work on the entrance doors.
On one of our excursions, we saw a chocolate store called Stans. We left our business card for the Swiss owner to one of the employees. The owner, Xaver Odermatt, who has not any relation to us, contacted us and met us the next day for a tour of the city. We got on very well and were invited to his home with some other Swiss people to watch the Switzerland-Germany soccer match. This led to further interesting contacts.
Everything has an end, and so we left the impressive city of Brasilia after an amazing time.
